up on our high-def doppler radar. heavy rainfall through santa rosa, petaluma, sliding to the south ever so slowly throughout the day today. now the winds also kicking up out ahead of this cold front so we're looking for some gusts. we have already seen some over 30 miles an hour. there is a possibility we could see some gusts to 50 miles an hour along the coast over some of the mountaintops, as well. so a very blustery day outside and a very wet one, too. the temperatures will stay cool. highs are only expected to be in the 50s. there is plenty more rain to come especially as we head throughout the weekend. we'll have more on that in a few moments. right now let's check the roads with gianna. >> thank you very much. let's jump to the bay bridge. so far this area is dry. of course, as lawrence said that will change and things get busier as the morning progresses. wind advisory for the bay bridge and looks like we're seeing not too bad conditions as you work your way towards the toll plaza. jumping over to our maps we have some road construction to report. 4th street on-ramp 280 just as you come off the skyway is blocked for road construction an ongoing project.

should be there at least until about 5:30 this morning. altamont pass good westbound 58014 minutes to 680. the dumbarton bridge, caltrans working hard this morning through there, lanes closed at least until 5:30. one lane is open in each direction. most of those closures are on the westbound side as you work your way towards 101. and 880 windy but so far no delays. back to you. >> thank you. we have the rain but oh, my they have the snow in the midwest. white-out conditions stranding christmas travelers there. the first major snowstorm of the season is crawling across several states. several highways have been closed, hundreds of flights out of chicago's airports have been canceled. airlines are waiving fees for customers who change flights because of the storm. ripple effects of the storm extend to southern california. multiple flights between los angeles and midwestern cities have been cancelled. officials at l.a.x. expect more cancellations later today. passengers who made it home

from chicago said some cancellations why announced even as they boarded their flights out of the storm zone. can you imagine being aboard and the pilot saying nevermind? the winter weather is happening just as we hit the biggest holiday travel day. at sfo more than 100,000 people are expected to pass through just today. and cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran is at the airport where weather delays are expected. hey, cate. >> reporter: good morning, brian. yes, they're on the way. i just looked at the boards. it's early enough that all flights are on time. but the one thing is for sure, yes, delays are on the way. and as you said about 130,000 people are expected to pass through sfo. so we better brace for that. we have already seen the effects of the winter storm in chicago here at our airports. aviation officials say more than 350 flights out of o'hare international airport and 150 out of midway were canceled. and sfo reps say as a result, it's delayed a few flights in the bay area. but we'll soon have our own weather setbacks here at home. rain is moving into our region so unfortunately, the national

weather service says this could complicate things for travelers. we are expecting weather delays which could impact those connecting flights. so the best advice i have for you today is the same advice i have every holiday season. make sure you have that extra time with you when you're traveling and always make sure you check the status of your flight before you get to your airport. reporting live at sfo, cate caugiran, cbs 5. >> so one question for you -- oh, brian, go ahead. >> oh, hi, cate. how are you this morning? [ laughter ] >> i don't see that much traffic behind you. it's going to be busy but i don't see that much activity happening behind you. >> reporter: i think people are just deciding to book their flights later because yeah, it's the busiest day but you have to get that extra sleep. >> and on lawrence's behalf, by the way, you haven't felt a drop of rain this morning, have you? >> reporter: no. not yet. i know he's wanting tha to happen but i'm going to hope that that slow-moving storm is really slow, slow-moving. >> it is and frankly just in all of the weathermen's behalf, it is a slow-moving storm and when we get wet, they got 4" of

rain in northern sonoma county so it is going to get here. >> you said call ahead. what about parking? do you know if they are doing any extra special parking or opening any extra lots? >> reporter: well, i know that one of the airport representatives will actually be out here shortly and i'll ask him but the last time at thanksgiving they said the parking situation was calm because most people decided to take super shuttle or public transit and i know that's something they highly encourage on days like these. >> all right. cate caugiran at sfo, thank you. a moment of silence is planned this morning in the state of connecticut to honor those who died in last week's mass shooting. cbs reporter marlie hall joins us now from newtown. marlie. >> reporter: good morning. today marks the fifth day of memorial here in newtown, connecticut. and a full week since the tragedy at sandy hook elementary school. and today, the country will stop to remember. at 9:30 this morning, people

here in newtown will stop what they're doing and observe a moment of silence to mark one week since a shooter killed 26 people at sandy hook elementary school. then the church bells will ring again signifying another funeral for another child. pablo carmona attended the funeral of his friend and fellow boy scout benjamin wheeler. >> i don't really know why he had to die. but it's very sad. >> reporter: catherine hubbard liked to ride horses and allison wyatt wanted to become an artist. >> my husband asked me has this rocked your faith in god? and i said absolutely not. but it's done a few things about my faith in human beings. >> reporter: the outpouring of love and emotions for the families of the victims extends far beyond this memorial in newtown, something emilie parker's family found out when they took her body home to

utah. [ inaudible ] [ crying ] >> reporter: robby parker the father of 6-year-old victim emilie parker tried to thank the hundreds who showed up for her memorial service. >> i'm so thankful for everybody that's here. i can't -- [ crying ] >> reporter: emilie parker will be buried at a private funeral service tomorrow. this official day of mourning extends beyond connecticut. states all over the country are planning a moment of silence this morning to remember the slain students and faculty. brian, michelle? >> marly we have seen teddy bears and candles and flowers. do you know what's going to happen with all of those left in town? >> reporter: those mementos are still here. every day more and more show up as visitors stream in. as you can probably tell, it's raining quite heavily here in newtown. so tents have been put up to protect those mementos from the elements. brian, michelle. >> thank you, marlie hall in newtown, connecticut, thank you very much. and we have seen a number

of different gun buy-back programs around the bay area in response to the newtown shooting but in one county, it's not just guns they want. the marin county district attorney is urging people to turn in any violent videogames they have. it's part of another gun buy- back with police and sheriff's offices as part of an upcoming weapons buy-back programs with police and sheriff's offices on january 15 and january 21. >> they get into these violent scenarios where people are just killing people and a young person becomes desensitized totally to the -- what it means to take a human life. >> if you turn in a violent videogame, you may get some money. the marin county buyback happens january 15 and 21. san francisco mayor ed lee is pushing for stronger regulations on certain types of ammunition proposing a citywide ban on commercial sales of hollow point bullets and wants

police notified when anyone in the city buys 500 or more rounds of ammunition at the same time. a hit-and-run crash in san francisco left a woman with serious injuries this morning. it happened last night at about 9:00 on christmas tree point in the twin peaks area. police say that there were four people walking on the road when they were hit. three fell about 30 feet down a hillside. paramedics used back boards and ropes to carry out a rescue. appear police found a car -- and police found a car with fender damage a short distance away. one of the people inside was hurt in the crash. the driver was detained by police, and now investigators are trying to determine if the driver of the car was impaired. we'll get new details today on how work is coming to repair that giant sinkhole in lafayette. the mayor is expected to give a status report later today. the sinkhole opened up on mountain view drive after a heavy rainstorm earlier this morning. the city manager says most of the repairs to utility lines and the roadway are now done. the road should be opened during the holidays but crews

will come back after the holidays to finish up the job. some 800 bay area jobs may be heading out of town. chevron corporation plans to move those spots to houston over the next two years. but it plans to keep its corporate headquarters in san ramon. the jobs are mostly technical positions dealing with information and advanced energy technologies and that part of company is based in texas. house speaker john boehner was going to have a vote on his plan b to avert "fiscal cliff." >> one problem: the republicans wouldn't support him on it. lawmakers were set to vote last night but there wasn't enough support. so speaker boehner canceled the vote. he designed the bill to prevent automatic tax hikes at the 1st of the year on people making less than $1 million. boehner says it's up to the president and democrats to make their move. >> i did my part. they have done nothing. >> it's very, very, very unfortunate the republicans

have wasted an entire week on a number of pointless political stunts. >> house members are heading out of d.c. for christmas. and when they get back, there will be just four days left to hammer out a deal. time is 5:10. drivers in the sierra packing snow chains today. >> and those famous locks gone. the extreme new hairstyle for this famous san francisco giant. >> also, the major change for a marine sanctuary in northern california. the plan to save a vibrant ecosystem packed with birds and fish. >> what is cool about your school? you can submit your nomination on our website, cbssf.com/coolschool and we may feature school on our show. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the sierra are getting a new layer of fresh powder for t >> david letterman got his start in indianapolis as a weatherman. >> i had no idea. >> really? >> yes. all weathermen know that. [ laughter ] >> i guess so.

>> he was sort of our hero. skiers and snowboarders in the sierra are getting a new layer of fresh powder for the weekend. >> that snow will make it a treacherous trek to get to the resorts. but some borders got lucky and beat the rush. >> i didn't even know about it. i'm from reno didn't even know it was going to snow. >> when i got off work i could go skiing. >> lucky you don't have to deal with the mess. >> it is lucky, yes. >> chains will likely be required for the weekend. as much as 4 feet of blowing snow is expected over the next few days above 5,000 feet. >> lawrence karnow knows about david letterman. >> his famous line is it's coming down like canned ham! that was letterman. >> you should say that. >> i just did! [ laughter ] around the bay area we have some good rain coming in and this cold front is a slow- moving system but we are starting to see that slide into parts of the north bay. let's check your high-def

doppler radar. you can see some heavy rainfall now sliding in coming down like canned ham there! that's right. it's really starting to dump in parts of the north bay right now along the 101. you can see the yellows and the oranges there. it is really dumping, some of the north bay mountains already nearly 4" of rain. we'll see a lot of heavy rainfall. if it's not in your rainfall, cool temperatures, rain continuing on and off throughout the day and periods of rain through the weekend. we'll have a series of systems slide on through. so here's your cold front that's making its way through the bay area behind all those cold speckled clouds and tomorrow morning could see a good wallop from this system that's off the coastline but rain and wind today, wind advisories san francisco on southward along the coastline. winter storm warnings and i'm thinking maybe upwards of about 5 feet of snow across the higher peaks. between now and monday. a slow-moving storm system

through the bay area. very wet into the south bay. then in the afternoon tapering off to scattered showers. not much of a break. then the next system slides in tomorrow morning. heavy storms and thunderstorms tomorrow morning. rain totals because it is a slow mover impressive over three inches in san rafael maybe a couple of inches toward the santa cruz mountains an inch in pacifica. temperatures are going to stay cool. plan on highs only in the 50s. it's going to be a stormy day ahead and a stormy weekend on and off through saturday and sunday. maybe a brief break on monday, slight chance of showers late in the day on christmas day. all right, let's check out the roadways now with gianna. >> we have a couple of wind advisories out there one affecting the bay bridge this morning. let's get a live look at conditions at the bay bridge. so far traffic very light. no delays as you work your way into san francisco out of oakland. chp has issued that wind advisory so use caution across the span, especially if you

head into san francisco. no delays on the lower deck into oakland. elsewhere, checking some other live shots of our traffic this morning, san mateo bridge so far, so good no delays or any trouble spots in both directions. a little windy across the span as well. pleasanton, westbound 580 extra volume no major snags towards 680. checking our maps, you can see through the altamont pass, a few brake lights westbound but so far only 14 minutes from the altamont pass to 680. 680 itself no delays. and a little windy in observations. you can see our camera shaking around there but so far no delays along 880. that's traffic. back to you >> thank you. state regulators gave the go-ahead for pg&e to charge customers for part of the cost to improve pipeline safety. a $299million rate hike was okayed yesterday upsetting consumer advocates and survivors of the san bruno pipeline explosion. the increase is less than half the amount pg&e initially asked

for to help pay for inspections and upgrades. >> you allow a utility responsible for the deaths of eight citizens, friends and family, to profit as a direct result of that tragedy. >> pg&e says on average, residential customers will see their monthly bills go up by 88 cents next year and by $1.36 in 2014. there is a new plan that would ban oil drilling in a large area off the northern california coast. president obama wants to nearly double the size of two national marine sanctuaries off sonoma and mendocino counties. the new zone includes the town of bodega bay which currently sits just north of two national marine sanctuaries. this is actually once a nuclear power plant that would be put there. the push for preservation has grown since the bp oil spill in the gulf back in 2010. >> in area is a national

treasure. it needs and it deserves permanent protection from oil and gas exploration. this is a matter of economic common sense. jobs and livelihoods hang in the balance. >> some local fishermen worry and expanded sanctuary could hurt their business but those backing the change say that it will benefit everybody. 20 minutes after 5:00. more bad news for hockey fans. how many more games have been canceled by the league? >> how does a big league pitcher do with a bowling ball? some bay area teams found out last night. the story coming up next. >> some heavy rainfall now moving into the bay area. you're going to see some heavy snow across the mountains. here's your snow report for this weekend. yeah, you better bring those chains. you'll need that. we could see upwards of five feet of snow across some of the higher peaks. northstar looking at snow and some wind. if you plan to head to squa valley, be careful, lots of snow through christmas. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[ male announcer ] december is customer appreciation month at subway restaurants. saying thanks is a great deal because we're offering $2 six inch subs -- the cold cut combo or meatball marinara. $2 each, all december long. appreciation tastes amazing! hurry in for your $2 sub. subway. eat fresh. good morning. welcome back. lawrence is talking about wet weather on the way so you might have a busy ride on the roads. but so far, we are holding steady no delays on the bay bridge, golden gate bridge or through milpitas. a wind advisory on the bay bridge so use caution. that's traffic. back to you. >> thank you. a sign that the show may be over for the san jose sharks and possibly for the league

itself at least for this year. the league announced last night they have canceled all games through january 14th because of the lockout. that's about half of the season's schedule. the sharks have already had to cancel 41 games including 20 home games already. if the league is going to have a season, it likely will need to start the season by late january. so have to see if that happens. are you ready for our play of the day? >> that would be the good news. time for the play of the day. kevin durant with an impressive shot off the top of the backboard. and in! pretty amazing. but the three-point play was not enough as the thunder fell to minnesota 99-93. >> it's cooler from that angle. not this one. but the one from above. yeah. that. >> amazing. >> have you heard about tim lincecum? he has been cut from the giants. >> you think so in. >> he hasn't been cut from the giants, actually his hair has been cut. take a look at the before and

after pictures. a seattle hairstylest tweeted the right hander lost his locks in his hometown earlier this month. and the pictures of him with short hair relatively short hair have been flooding around on twitter for days. so far no word from lincecum himself. well, it grows back. >> it does. he looks good. >> doesn't look bad. >> big league pitcher and vallejo native cc sabathia has just been seen bowling with at- risk youth in san francisco. >> last night' event was called cc's christmas caravan. 19 teams bold with the yankees star and his wife at the mission bowling club. sabathia -- is that how you say it? sabathia bowled right-handed because he is rehabbing his valuable left elbow. >> always say vallejo is near and dear to my heart. i have a lot of family here. and i really am deeply rooted in the community so i really care about what's going on. so anytime i get a chance to give back and do whatever i can, i always try to take the

opportunity. >> the event was hosted by the pitch foundation a nonprofit founded by sabathia -- i still want to say it like that. it's sabathia. >> that's the way it's pronounced now. >> but aims to help inner city youth. >> after bowling he brought the teams to niketown for $250 shopping spree. at 5:26, a dramatic robbery and chase in the east bay. the video is pretty amazing. the fiery ending to the suspect's escape. >> and the busiest travel day of the holiday season. it looks like mother nature could complicate things a bit. we'll tell you what the conditions look like out of sfo. >> and standing together in silence. the tribute happening this morning one week after the newtown school shooting. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

windy storm is moving throu the nort >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald. hi-def doppler is fired up this morning a cold, wet and windy storm moving through the north bay. they have been getting a good soaking all night. good morning, everyone. it's friday, december 21st. i'm michelle griego. >> i'm brian hackney. frank is off this morning. the time is 5:30. we'll check with lawrence in just a minute for an update on the weather but first developing news. a fiery crash in antioch. police are still on the hunt for a second suspect this is car. officers say the pair robbed the bonfair market on 10th stress around 1:00 a.m. police caught up to them and started a chase that came to a crashing and when the car went into a wall on west trigalis road and burst into flames. police are still trying to figure out who the second suspect is and where they went. a suspect is hospitalized after another police chase ended with a crash in vacaville

this morning. there is no word yet on why the california highway patrol was tracing the driver or where the pursuit began. the suspects' car crashed at weber and pit school roads just east of interstate 80. details of the suspect's condition have not been released. a woman has serious injuries after a hit-and-run accident in san francisco. it happened last night at about 9 p.m. on christmas tree point in the twin peaks area. police say there were four people walking on the road when they were hit. three of them fell about 30 feet down a hillside. paramedics used back boards and ropes to pull them to safety. a damaged car was found a short distance later. police detained the driver and took one person in the vehicle to the hospital. officers are looking to see if the driver was impaired at the time of the crash. our big story this morning, the rain is here and it's going to last for days. >> yeah. let's get to lawrence tracking where the storm is right now up in the north bay, yes? >> yes. it's hung up in the north bay now but beginning to slide

south. if the rain hasn't showed up in your neighborhood, just wait a while. some of the mountains in the north bay already almost 4" of rain and you can see continuing to really pump in parts of the north bay with some of that heavy rainfall. the yellows and oranges showing up in that direction. along the 101 we have that very heavy rainfall now down through petaluma a little further south going to continue to see the system work its way south throughout the morning so the compute will be a mess. plan for rain today and some strong gusty winds. in any event, along the coastline about san francisco on southward we can still see gusts to 50 miles per hour especially over some of the mountaintops. gusts over 30 and more to come. temperatures will stay way down. it's going to be soggy highs expected only to be in the 50s and this is the going of much stormier weather throughout the weekend. we could even see some thunderstorms, wouldn't that be exciting, gianna? [ laughter ]

>> yes, it would be. [ laughter ] >> you know -- >> we'll talk about that in a minute. >> we will. as much as 3 to 4 feet of snow is expected in the sierra over the next few days. chains will likely be required for drivers through the weekend but the storms should give skiers and snowboarders a nice new layer of fresh powder. and let's take a look at what's going on up there. highway 267 and you can see the snow on the ground right there. if you are going skiing or boarding, be careful and take your time. >> last year the snowpack was about 36% of average. at this time of year now it's 90% of its average level so that's good news for the snowpack department. is there good news on the road ahead? let's check in now with gianna. >> there is. you know, if you do want to head out there early this morning if you are going out of town, right now no chains but no specific chain requirements but again good idea to carry them in your car because of course that's going to change quickly. so far, so good on the roads as you hit the bay bridge. wind advisory in effect but no

delays to report through there. elsewhere, as we jump over to another live look at some of our bay area bridges, golden gate bridge still steady no delays as you head into san francisco. westbound 580 altamont pass a bit of a -- a few brake lights there 40 miles per hour as you work your way westbound in some spots just out of the altamont pass. looks good once you get towards 680. 880 so far, so good no delays in either direction there. and no delays along 880/237. so hopefully, it will be "friday light" today. back to you guys. >> thank you. you can follow the storm yourself with our hi-def doppler just go to website, cbssf.com/weather. a winter blizzard is slamming the midwest causing treacherous road conditions and knocking out electricity to thousands. there have been multiple accidents and near white-out conditions in the iowa town of williamsburg. high winds continued overnight across the state. and blizzard conditions stretch

from nebraska up through southern wisconsin and officials are warning folks don't drive if you don't have to. icy roads are now covered with snowmaking for a dangerous drive. even drivers going slow are struggling to keep their wheels straight. the midwest storm is also disrupting air travel all across the country. hundreds of flights out of chicago's o'hare and midway airports have been canceled. this on the biggest day for holiday travel. cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran is at the airport right now with more on the expected weather delays. good morning, cate. >> reporter: good morning, michelle. i also just got word that if you're traveling to newark or philadelphia, those airports there are also experiencing weather delays anywhere between two hours to three hours. no word yet if it has any effect on sfo flights. if you are heading home for the holidays from the bay area and other parts of country you might want to be prepared to wait because in addition to traveling during the busy season it looks like you're traveling against mother nature and thanks to that winter storm

in chicago, aviation officials say more than 350 flights out of o'hare and 450 out of midway were canceled. we are seeing the effects here at home. sfo reps say it's delayed a few flights in the bay area. that's not the only thing that will set back travelers today here. rain is moving into our region so unfortunately, the national weather service says this could make things messy for travelers. but the early bird flyers we spoke to say they are prepared. >> when i go to check in i'm two hours ahead with tickets ready. so if they tell me there's a delay i'll be able to catch another airport. i have three stops on the way home. so i'll hope time in between will make up for that. >> reporter: delays could impact connect flights. sfo is expecting 130,000 passengers to pass through the airport. it's starting to pink. so the best thing to do is give yourself that pad extra time

and check your flights before you come to the airport. reporting live at sfo, cate caugiran, cbs 5. police are investigating a stabbing at 3 a.m. in san jose. officers arrived on scene at oakland road near brokaw to find a man with at least one stab wound. he was pronounced dead at the hospitalful police haven't identified a suspect. we'll bring you more information as soon as we get it. newtown, connecticut will observe a moment of silence this morning in honor of the shooting victims of sandy hook elementary. that silent remembrance will take place at 6:30 a.m. pacific time exactly one week after a gunman opened fire at the school killing 26 people, 206 them young children. governor malloy has declared this an official day of mourning in the state of connecticut. >> my husband asked me last night, he says, has this rocked your faith in god? and i said absolutely not but

it's done a few things about my faith in human beings. >> at least five more funerals are scheduled today with even more scheduled tomorrow. a private funeral was held yesterday in new hampshire for nancy lanza, the gunman's mother. she was shot and killed at home moments before the school rampage. if you go online at that time, you may see this message. twitter founder jack dorsey and several celebrities are calling for a five-minute time-out on the internet out of respect. the national rifle association plans a news conference in washington this morning at 7:45 pacific time. it will be the first time for the nra to make official comment on the connecticut shooting. the group says it opted to wait out of respect for the victims' families. meantime, vice president joe biden convened a task force that will review the nation's gun laws and recommend changes. the president wants concrete proposals in hand by next month. the team will also look at mental health issues, school readiness, even violent videogames. and the effort to get guns off the streets is going well

in oakland so far. all week, gun owners have been trading in their fire power for cash. the buy back has netted hundreds of weapons including two machine pistols turned in by teenagers. in san francisco, mayor lee is proposing two new gun control laws, one that bans hollow point bullets and another that notifies law enforcement when someone buys 500 rounds or more of any type of ammunition. sf police chief greg suhr will be onset to talk about the efforts with cbs 5's phil matier, that's coming up at 6:45. north korea announced today it's detaining an american citizen. the north korean governors say pay john ho entered the country as a tourist back on november 3 and has confessed to unspecified crimes. the government is offering no other details but claims that the crimes have been, quote, proven through evidence. it's 5:39 right now. a well-known olympian comes

clean about her double life as a prostitute. >> news out of facebook, their new plan to charge to charge for messages. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

chicago jail has been captu early tuesday, two convicted one of two men who staged a daring escape from a high-rise from a chicago jail is captured. early tuesday, two convicted

bank robbers broke out of the metropolitan correctional center. officials say they punched a hole in the bottom of a window and used bedsheets to climb down about 20 stories. late last night authorities caught up with 37-year-old joseph banks. 38-year-old kent conley is still at la -- kenneth conley is still at large. a man who stole holiday gifts off a porch is busted. 39-year-old daniel price stole a box from a house in concord just 15 minutes after u.s. dropped it off, according to police. here he is walking up to the door. these photos were posted online three days ago. police got tips and searched his home and found stolen presents. u.s. stock futures are sharply lower after a setback in budget negotiations in washington. the latest roadblock and efforts to avert the "fiscal cliff" is having ripple folks around the world. ashley morrison of cbsmoneywatch.com has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a setback in the "fiscal cliff"

talks triggered a sell-off overseas this morning. tokyo's nikkei lost 1% while hong kong's hang seng also dropped half a percent. wall street stocks fared better rebounding from earlier losses yesterday. the dow ended 59 points higher on thursday's trading while the nasdaq was up 6 points. research in motion says it lost one million blackberry subscribers around the world in the last quarter. the plunge is the first for blackberry leaving it with 79 million users. their stock was down more than 10% in after-hours trading after it says it will change the way it charges fees. they expect to launch new smartphones next month which some analysts say is critical to its survival. instagram the mobile picture sharing service owned by facebook has bowed to user pressure. it is revising its controversial terms of service policy. among them the company said is advertisers could display user's mottos without asking or paying for -- photos without

asking or paying for them. instagram says there are now no such plans. i think after people left instagram that helped them change their plan. >> that urged them on a little bit. you mentioned facebook. i guess they are finding new ways to make money? >> that's right. facebook has a new way to reach out to others but it's going t cost. until now messages sent to people not connected to the network would arrive in a folder called other. now it's testing a service it will charge a dollar for to guarantee the messages that users send to people nonconnected to people. so it will then arrive in the user's in box as if they were actually friends. if you are not actually friends with someone, you probably don't want to spend a dollar to send them a message. right? >> that's what i'm thinking. >> yeah. >> who knows. we'll see if it takes off. >> we'll see. >> ashley morrison of cbsmoneywatch.com, thank you. over much of the bay area this morning, it is still dry. except for the north bay.

but don't be lull need a false sense of security! there's a lot of rain coming and lawrence has the latest. >> yeah. no kidding. i just was checking some of the numbers in venado in the north bay over 4" of rain at the airport in santa rosa almost as inch of rain. you can see why. look at that strong band that is sliding into the north bay right now some very heavy rainfall coming down across the north bay but really that's been where it's been located. it hasn't made its way any further south so it's slowly going to sag further southward. you can see that heavy rainfall the yellows and oranges into petaluma right now. that will be sliding to the south and picking up throughout the day today some very strong gusty winds to come along with that especially in through san francisco and along the coastline. wind advisory continuing there could see some gusts over 50 miles per hour. cloudy windy and wet. it will be a cool day out there. then periods of rain on and off for the weekend, in fact maybe even some thunderstorms too. so this could be quite exciting if you like the weather. here's it is this cold front sliding in across the bay area this morning. a slow-moving system but behind that you have some cold

speckled clouds out here some cold air will keep things unsettled and wet as you see some of these impulses rolling in through the weekend. winter storm warnings in the high sierra up to 5 feet of snow across higher peaks and, of course, that's going to start out low so be careful heading up to the mountain passes. you likely need some changes throughout the weekend. computer models a little bit quick on this. the rain is a little further to the north. but it's going to sag to the south slowly throughout the day today. you get the idea it's going to be a good soaker on and off throughout the day even into the south bay. and then behind that we get in that cold air, that very unstable air, and then tomorrow morning, look what happens here. we see some very strong storms erupting across the bay area. the possibility of some embedded thunderstorms maybe some hail could be an interesting day tomorrow morning. so today though pretty impressive. look at these rainfall totals in the forecast over the next 24 hours or so. over 3" of rain in san rafael, almost 2" into the santa cruz mountains over an inch in pacifica. and almost 1.5" in san jose.

so that's a pretty good soaker as we head in toward the next couple of days. all right. temperature-wise, this is what we can expect to see. numbers only in the 50s. it is going to be rainy on and off throughout the day today. it is going to be rainy on and off through tomorrow and sunday, as well. so looks like a washout this weekend. by monday we have a little break. and on christmas day, there's a slight chance of showers in toward the afternoon. more rain expected toward the middle of next week. all right. let's check the roads now with gianna. >> thank you, lawrence. we are going to jump over to mass transit right now. we are getting reports of caltrain delays this morning. northbound caltrain number 101 about 15 minutes behind schedule here. they hit some debris on the tracks. looks like they wrapped everything up quickly. just a few minutes there that's train 101 northbound heading out of redwood city. bart, ace, muni, ferry, all on time, no delays to report. over out freeways traffic is light this morning not a lot to report as you head out of marin county towards the golden gate bridge. it's an easy ride into san francisco right now. they did the lane changes early

this morning. also if you are heading along 880 towards oakland airport, so far no delays along 880. you're in luck there. just a little windy in the east bay especially. we are getting reports of gusty conditions there. you can see our cameras shaking around just a bit south 880. not too bad as you work your way into hayward. if you are heading to sfo north 101, 92 to the 80 split only a 19-minute ride right now so that's all in the green no delays there. also 280 looking good along the peninsula and so far no delays on 92. san mateo bridge also checking in problem-free both directions about a 14-minute ride between 880 and 101. here's a look at our sensors here along 101. lots of green. so 40-plus miles per hour no delays and if you are work your way along 280 through san bruno no delays. slight delays on the northbound side of 101 through san jose but so far no delays to report along 85. traffic looks good along 280. guadalupe parkway checking in problem-free as well as highway 17 and a quick live look at 880/237, connector, 7 minutes

westbound 237 from 880 to 101. not seeing any brake lights in and around this area. traffic looks good. typically through the altamont pass we start to see at least a 20 to 22-minute drive by 5:30 and so far it is "friday light." good news there. west 580 only 17 minutes from the altamont pass to 680. once you hit 680, no delays at the dublin interchange. 680 looks good in both directions through walnut creek. that's a look at your morning drive. back to you. >> thank you. new details about a former marine who posted himself outside a modesto area elementary school. he says he did it to protect students in the wake of the connecticut school shooting. but the marine corps says that craig pusley is not who he says he is. he told reporters he was a ten- year veteran who had been to iraq and afghanistan. it turns out he was in the service for less than a year and he never left san diego. >> i'm in shock. >> that's bad.

>> this is serious and it's scary. >> after the truth about his service record came out the school superintendent asked him to leave. a well-known american olympian admits he has been leading a secret double life as a vegas escort. sue sister favor hamilton a former track star says she turned to prostitution to cope with depression and a troubled marriage. according to the smoking gun website, hamilton has been working for an escort service for about a year and charges $600 an hour or more. she says her husband was the only one who knew until now. hamilton confessed on twitter after the smoking gun broke the story. it's now 9 minutes before the hour of 6:00. 5:51 on your friday morning. i don't know if you noticed but the end of the world did not happen. >> i did notice. >> it's having a huge impact on mayan tourism. >> and a secret santa surprise. how one man brought tears of joy to holiday shoppers. ,,,,,,

[ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer

is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online.

rain and wind pounding the north bay is heading south. expected to pay a visit to your neighborhood coming up soon. details in a few minutes. wind advisory in effect for the bay bridge toll plaza. we are starting to see delays in some of the cash lanes. but so far no delays as you work your way into san francisco on the upper deck. traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. here we are december 21st, 2012 and so far it appears that we're all still around. that's despite the doomsday predicted by some people's interpretation of the mayan calendar. one thing that was accurately predicted, a tourism upswing in mexico at one of the most iconic sites in mayan culture.

it was built more than 1,000 years ago by the mayans. >> before we came we thought according to the mayans that it is the end of the world. >> hotels across mexico's five mayan states sold out ahead of today's doomsday date. >> i'm sure it did. >> the sun is only going to last another 4.5 billion years. it will then expand. >> you always give us a science lesson. special delivery from santa himself. he showed up at a good will store in new jersey this week. there were tears, hugs and laughter when he handed out surprise envelopes to shoppers each with $100 in cash. the secret santa says he traveled from portland, maine and wanted to make a special trip to new jersey hit hard by superstorm sandy. >> devastation and we wanted to just see what we could do to help inspire other people to give a little bit more. >> holy cow, santa, thank you!

>> as for the source of the cash, santa says it's private money but beyond that, he is keeping it secret. >> that is pretty sweet. it's 5 minutes before the hour of 6:00. in the mention half hour a car chase ended in a huge fireball this morning. the dramatic arrest and how it may be tied to a string of east bay robberies. >> and a day of sadness across america. one week after the newtown shooting, how the country is coming together to mourn the victims. >> we're live at sfo where it is the busiest travel day of the holiday season. we're already getting reports of arrival delays. we'll tell you how long you will have to wait for you loved one when we come back. t start g six ways to sunday. you'd get knocked off. and sometimes, it took a minute to download a song. that's sixty seconds, for crying out loud. we know how long a minute is! sitting, waiting for an album to download. i still have back problems. you're only 14 and a half. he doesn't have back problems.

you kids have got it too good if you ask me. [ male announcer ] now u-verse high speed internet has more speed options, reliability and ways to connect.

[ girl's voice ] we're gonna have lunch together. what're you having? oh, well, i only have this one, so... that'll do, i'll split it with sally. yea, we'll just share it. [ male announcer ] get your own subway steak melt, like the steak & bacon melt. subway. eat fresh®. saying thanks is a great deals customer appreciation month at subway restaurants. because we're offering $2 six inch subs -- the cold cut combo or meatball marinara. $2 each, all december long. appreciation tastes amazing! hurry in for your $2 sub. subway. eat fresh. oh, did you want it? yea we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light, buttery and flakey. that's half that's not half! guys, i have more! thanks mom [ female announcer ] pillsbury crescents. let the making begin [ female announcer ] holiday cookies are a big job. everything has to be just right.

perfection is in the details. ♪ get to holiday fun faster >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald. a getaway car erupts in a

huge ball of flames. the dramatic ending to an east bay robbery chase. >> a big travel day at sfo. how stormy weather around the country could hold you up. good morning, straight up 6:00. it is friday, december 21. i'm brian hackney. frank is off this morning. >> and i'm michelle griego. time now is 6:00. keeping our eye on the storm, look at hi-def doppler covered in green and yellow. you can see it right here. the heaviest rain has been falling in the north bay. with it's expected to hit the bay area very soon. lawrence karnow has the latest. >> this is a slow-moving storm system but it has been dumping in the north bay. some of the mountains over 4" of rain already and still more to come of the your hi-def doppler rolling through with the rainfall right now. you can see the heavy rainfall is located mainly north of the golden gate bridge. but that's all about to change. this is heavy rainfall toward the petaluma area. we are seeing some yellows and some oranges, as well. you continue to see that along